Preface.  In the USA, vote for democrats, Republicans are openly saying they want to end SSN and Medicare.  Health care and insurance will decline and vanish as collapse accelerates from financial depressions caused by energy decline, so if you’ve been putting off getting exercise, eating well, and getting enough sleep, that’s all you can do long term. Meanwhile vote for Democrats, who will continue to try to make health care to as many as possible, but are also more likely to ration food and gasoline not just fairly, but ration at all.  It is really outrageous that the U.S. is the wealthiest nation that has ever existed or will ever exist, by far, yet we are the only developed nation that does not have national health care.

On the other hand, if you’re a deep ecologist, Republicans are more likely to crash civilization sooner and harder, which is great for biodiversity, climate change, pollution and so on.

Alice Friedemann  www.energyskeptic.com  Author of Life After Fossil Fuels: A Reality Check on Alternative Energy; When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation”, Barriers to Making Algal Biofuels, & “Crunch! Whole Grain Artisan Chips and Crackers”.  Women in ecology  Podcasts: WGBH, Jore, Planet: Critical, Crazy Town, Collapse Chronicles, Derrick Jensen, Practical Prepping, Kunstler 253 &278, Peak Prosperity,  Index of best energyskeptic posts

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Visualcapitalist (2022) Charted: Healthcare Spending and Life Expectancy, by Country

Charted: Healthcare Spending and Life Expectancy, by Country

The United States has the largest spending of any country included in the dataset, its average life expectancy of 77 years is lower than 47 other countries! Some researchers believe a big contributor is the country’s higher infant mortality rate, along with its higher relative rate of violence among young adults.

Over the last century, life expectancy at birth has more than doubled across the globe, largely thanks to innovations and discoveries in various medical fields around sanitation, vaccines, and preventative healthcare.

Yet, while the average life expectancy for humans has increased significantly on a global scale, there’s still a noticeable gap in average life expectancies between different countries.

What’s the explanation for this divide? According to World Bank data, it may be partially related to the amount of money a country spends on its healthcare. More Spending Generally Means More Years. The latest available data from the World Bank includes both the healthcare spending per capita of 178 different countries and their average life expectancy.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the analysis found that countries that spent more on healthcare tended to have higher average life expectancies up until reaching the 80-year mark.

David Cecere. 17 Sep 2009. 45,000 deaths annually linked to lack of health coverage: Uninsured, working-age Americans have 40 percent higher death risk than privately insured counterparts. Harvard Medical school, Cambridge Health Alliance.

Nearly 45,000 annual deaths are associated with lack of health insurance, according to a new study published online today by the American Journal of Public Health.  The study, conducted at Harvard Medical School and Cambridge Health Alliance, found that uninsured, working-age Americans have a 40 percent higher risk of death than their privately insured counterparts.

“The uninsured have a higher risk of death when compared to the privately insured, even after taking into account socioeconomics, health behaviors, and baseline health,” said lead author Andrew Wilper, M.D., who currently teaches at the University of Washington School of Medicine. “We doctors have many new ways to prevent deaths from hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease — but only if patients can get into our offices and afford their medications.

The study, which analyzed data from national surveys carried out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), assessed death rates after taking into account education, income, and many other factors, including smoking, drinking, and obesity.

Deaths associated with lack of health insurance now exceed those caused by many common killers such as kidney disease. An increase in the number of uninsured and an eroding medical safety net for the disadvantaged likely explain the substantial increase in the number of deaths, as the uninsured are more likely to go without needed care. Another factor contributing to the widening gap in the risk of death between those who have insurance and those who do not is the improved quality of care for those who can get it.